They will spend their lives learning new technology tools, so I want my students to learn strategies that work - like persistence, asking others for help (this isn’t obvious to everybody), using the Help function, finding tutorials, using other tools you already know how to use to create a workaround.

Workaround example: we found a nice tool at http://www.logoease.com which allows students to create basic logos (great for a create your own business project), but there’s no easy way to save the logos (no screen capture software on our computers). Fortunately there is a workaround: if you take a screen shot (CTRL + Print Screen), paste it into Paint, crop just the logo, then cut it and paste it into a new Paint screen, then you can save it and use it.

Unlike adults, kids don’t seem to mind workarounds, which have a game-playing flavor to them.

Of course, the stumbling around provides many chances to overcome frustration (sometimes a vestigial skill), and to learn by making mistakes.

I ask students to tell me candidly what they think of the tools. They are brutally honest – if a tool is hard to figure out, they’ll let me know. So I won’t use that one again.

In the meantime, they may have found a new tool they can use, and they have had some good problem-solving and lateral-thinking practice.

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Fran Lo is a teacher trainer (for teachers in grades 6 to 12) and a teacher (Social Studies, English, and Technology). Her English classes incorporate so much technology that they have become hybrid/blended classes.